Folding wardrobe.



W R. MONTGOMERY. I FOLDING WARDROBE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY24, 1915.

l 1 88,974. Patented June 27, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l- J a lnven o Attorneys THE COLUMBIA PLANOURAPH CG" WASHINGTON, v. c.

w; R. MONTGOMERY.

FOLDING WARDROBE.

. APPLICATION FILED JULY 24, 1915- 1.,188,974.

Patented June 27,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

lnven y r .1 Attorneys AS FA if a? FFTU.

WALTER R. MONTGOMERY, OF SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-NINTH TO T. E. WHITE, ONE-NINTH TO W. F. HOWELL, AND FOUR-NINTHS TO C. W. EDWARDS, ALL OF WEBSTER, LOUISIANA, AND ONE-NINTH TO W. T. MARSHALL AND ONE- NINTH TO 0. D. NELSON, BOTH OF CADDO, LOUISIANA.

FOLDING WARDROBE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J 11119 2'? 191%;

Application filed July 24, 1915. Serial No. 41,698.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it knownthat I, WALTERR. MONTGOM- ERY a citizen of the United States, residing at Shreveport, in the parish of Caddo and State of Louisiana,'have invented a new and useful Folding WVardrobe, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention appertains to fold ing furniture of the general character disclosed in my co-pending applications Serial Nos. 41,695, 41,696 and 41,697,'filed even date herewith.

The object ofthis invention is to provide a wardrobe or cabinet adapted for the storage of clothing or other articles, and which wardrobe can be folded up or collapsed in a small space when not in use or when being shipped, the wardrobe beingv light and inexpensive in construction to reduce the cost of manufacture thereof, and being readily transported and erected with minimum expense. and trouble.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of-the invention.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a front View of the improved wardrobe. Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section thereof. Figs. 4: and 5 are vertical sections taken on the lines H and 5.5, respectively, of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a vertical sectiontaken on thesame section line as Fig. 5 and illustrating the wardrobe in folded position. Fig. 7 is a horizontal section of the wardrobe in folded position.

, The body of the wardrobe or cabinet embodies a front wall 1 of wood or other suit able material mounted upon casters 2, and the. front wall 1 is provided atits upright side edges with rearwardly projecting flanges 3. The front wall 1 has a pair of upright door openings 4: which are normally closed by doors 5 having their remote edges hinged, as at 6, to the front wall 1 at the opposite edges of the openings 4. The doors 5 may be provided with glass or other suitable panels 7 The front wall 1 has a lower forwardly projecting portion 8 whose front side has the appearance of having drawers, and said portion 8 increases the space at the lower end of the wardrobe, so that laundry, shoes, and other articles may be contained in greater quantity or numbers in the lower portion of the wardrobe. The front wall 1 has an upright stile' or bar 9 separating the openings 4 and disposed between the doors 5, and the stile or bar 9 is provided with a rearwardly projecting rib or flange 10 be tween the flanges 3.

A pair of side walls 12 are hinged to the edges of the flanges 3-, strips 13 being secured to and projecting from the ends of the flanges '3, and the ends of the walls 12 having outstanding pivot elements 14. adjacent the forward edges of said walls 12 and pivotally engaging the projecting portions of the strips 13, whereby the Walls 12 may be swung toward one another, as seen in Fig. 7.

The back, bottom and top of the wardrobe are formed from a sheet 15 of fabric or other suitable material, such as canvas, duck, or the like, and this sheet 15 has its edges secured in any suitable manner to the rear edges of the side walls 12, so that when the side walls are separated or swung to normal position, the sheet 15 will be held taut. The upper end portion of the sheet 15 is extended forwardly, as at 16, to provide the top of the wardrobe and is secured to the upper ends of the side walls12 and to the upper end of the front wall 1, and the lower end portion of the sheet-15 is extended forwardly, as at 17 to provide the bottom of the wardrobe. The lower end portion 17 is secured in any suitable manner to thellower ends-of the fr nt nd side walls.

The back, bottom and top of the wardrobe are thus of light and flexible construction to lighten the weight of the wardrobe, and to reduce the cost of manufacture thereof also.

The bottom 17 is supported between the front wall and back, by means of a cord or other flexible element 18 terminally at tached to the lower ends of the side walls between the edges thereof and extending laterally under the bottom 17 to support the central portion of the bottom. The cord 18 will fold with the bottom 17 when the wardrobe is folded.

' In order to hold the corner of the sheet 15 in place between the back and bottom, a cross bar 19 is removably disposed between the lower rear corners of the side Walls 12, and holds the lower rear corner of the sheet in position, the bar 19 being readily removed when the wardrobe is folded. This bar 19 is the only removable or detachable part of the wardrobe, and can readily be carried within the portion 8 of the front wall, as suggested in Fig. 6, when the wardrobe is folded.

An upright partition 20 has its forward edge hinged to the rib or strip 10, metallic strips 22 being secured to and projecting rearwardly from the ends of the rib 10 and having pivotally engaged therewith elements 23 provided upon the ends of the partition 20 adjacent the forward edge thereof. The partition 20 can be swung to one side, as indicated in Fig. 7, when the device is folded.

An upper shelf 24 has its forward edge hingedly connected to the front wall, the forward edge of said shelf being disposed between the flanges 3 and above the upper end of the rib 10, and the ends of the shelf 24 have outstanding dowels or lugs 25 pivotally engaging the flanges 3. The shelf 24 is seatable upon the partition 20 when the shelf 24 is swung between the side walls 12, whereby the shelf 24 will be supported by the partition, and the partition is held in 'place by the shelf 24. Thus, the upper end of the partition 20 has an upstanding dowel or pin 26 adjacent its rear edge, and the shelf 24 has a lower socket 27 for receiving the dowel 26 when the shelf 24 is swung downwardly onto the partition. The dowel 26 in projecting into the socket 27 will prevent the partition 20 from swinging out of parallel position between the side walls. The shelf 24 provides a chamber thereabove for receiving hats and other articles, and the partition 20 provides a compartment or space at one side thereof for receiving suits of clothes. The clothes may be hung within said compartment by means of hooksor hangers 28 pivotally engaged to and depending from the shelf 24. When the shelf 24 is swung upwardly against the front wall, the hooks or hangers 28 swing against the shelf 24 out of the way.

A plurality of vertically spaced shelves 29 are normally disposed between the partition 20 and one side wall, and have their forward edges hingedly connected to the The dowels or pivots of the shelves 24 and j 29 are preferably offset in different vertical planes, as seen in Fig. 5, whereby the shelves may fold together and overlap, as seen in Fig. 6. However, the wardrobe may be constructed of such proportions that the shelves 24 and 29 can swing one under the other without overlapping, and in which event the pivots of the shelves can lie in a common vertical plane. Cleats 31 are secured to the adjacent sides of the partition 20 and one side wall 12 for normally supporting the shelves 29 when the shelves are swung between said partition and side wall.

hen the wardrobe is erected, the partition 20 is swung rearwardly and the shelf 24 is swung downwardly onto the partition 20 between the side walls. The side walls are thus kept in normal position to hold the sheet 15 taut, and the shelf 24 will also hold the partition 20 in place. Theshelves 29 3 19 to be readily moved into place, and to allow said bar 19 to be moved forwardly against the front wall when the device is folded.

When the structure is folded, the shelves 29 and 24 are swung upwardly toward the front wall, and the partition 20 is then swung to one side toward the front wall, in which event the side walls 12 may be swun toward one another, the sheet 15 folding with the side walls.

What is claimed as new is:

A folding wardrobe, comprising a front wall having rearwardly projecting flanges at its side edges and a rearwardly projecting rib between said flanges, side walls hinged to said flanges, a partition hinged to said rib, a sheet of flexible material attached to the rear edges of the side walls, a shelf disposed between and pivotally engaging said flanges and seatable upon said partione flange, the first mentioned shelf being In testimony that I claim the foregoing adapted to swing between the side Walls to as my own, I have hereto afiixed my signahold them separated, and the last mentioned ture in the presence of tWo Witnesses.

shelf being swingable between the partition WALTER R. MONTGOMERY. and one side wall, the side Walls and parti- Witnesses:

tion having means for supporting the IVY E. SIMPSON,

shelves. RUTH SCOTT.

Goplee ei this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of mtenm.

- Washington, D. 0." 

